FORMBY suffered defeat in the second round of the FA Vase, as they went down 2-1 to North West Counties Premier Division leaders Runcorn Town.

Deprived of leading goalscorer Jason Carey, a former Runcorn player, as he participated in the ‘Tough Mudder’ challenge for charity, Formby led through debutant Jordan Rugg's first-half goal, but were pegged back after the break, losing Franny Smith to a red card before eventually losing the game to Gareth Grant's 78th-minute strike.

The two sides were notable for the number of ex-players they included. Town’s centre-half Tom Spearitt played for Formby as a teenager, whilst Formby’s Molyneux, Adegbenro and Toohey clocked up 232 games between them for Town during their ascent through the tables from 2008 to 2010.

The opening minutes were scrappy as both sides were sizing each other up and getting used to the conditions. After five minutes Formby skipper Paul Speed ended a spell of possession with a shot that was comfortably saved by Karl Wills.

A minute later Marvin Molyneux dispossessed Stuart Wellstead, took the ball on and fired a shot from distance that was fumbled out for a corner by Wills. From the resulting kick Rugg’s attempted overhead was saved.

After 28 minutes Formby got the goal their dominance deserved, and what a goal it was. Speed and Rugg finished another passing move by exchanging a one-two before Rugg fired a low shot into the back of the net.

It had been a sensational half of football from Formby. Their passing and movement had made the Premier Division leaders look less than ordinary and positively uninspired.

Formby started the second period as they finished the first. Rugg had another effort saved by Wills.

But on 51 minutes Franny Smith appeared to handle the ball to stop it going past him and was spoken to by referee Ian Fisher, who brandished a second yellow card.

And two minutes later Town were level. A free-kick was curled into the area from the left hand side where it was met by Steve Latham, whose header looped beyond O’Connell and dropped into the net.

It was unbelievably harsh on Formby.

Even more so when, with 12 minutes left, Town got their noses in front. Kieron Brislen’s pass was short and allowed Gareth Grant to latch onto it and burst clear of the Formby defence. He raced forward with extraordinary pace whilst still keeping his composure and fired a low shot beyond O’Connell.

Defeat was unbelievably hard to take for Formby. They had outclassed Runcorn Town in the first-half and had been the better side in the second even though they had been reduced to 10 men.